Guertana's Gallery
by SUNOFDOOM
Summary: Ib is the story of a little girl trapped in a strange, dark world. But what's Ib, or Eve, actually thinking? My little novelized version of the game. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

The first thing she noticed was the music. The gentle lull of the violin accompanied by the crisp chords of the piano only served to fascinate her further.  
"Did you remember the handkerchief you got from your birthday, Eve? Be sure to always keep it with you."  
The voice of her mother snapped the girl out of her out of her own world, and into reality. The girl nodded.  
As the family approached the reception desk, they were met with a mysterious poster. The girl looked inquisitively at her mother.  
"Now, Eve, today we're going to see the works by an artist named Guertana. There's all sorts of things, from sculptures to paintings. I promise you it'll be lots of fun!"  
The girl beamed. She loved it when her parents took her to art galleries. "Three tickets to the Guertana exhibit, please!"  
The girl looked at her parents.  
"Hm? What's wrong, Eve?"  
The girl's eyes sparkled with excitement.  
"You want to go ahead? Alright, but don't cause any trouble!"  
The girl smiled and ran off.

"Won't someone come?" She asked her doll.  
"Oh please! Won't someone come?"  
The doll couldn't answer her.  
Its lifeless button eyes simply stared at her.  
"Please, won't someone come?" She pleaded, although there was no one there.  
She finally sank to the floor-defeated. A tear began to form.  
Drip. Drip. Drip.  
All over the strewn sheets of her sketchbook.  
The girl lay in the dark, lonely room. She lay there, with nothing but the empty stares of her toys.


	2. Prologue (2)

"? of the Deep," the girl read. She couldn't read that word. The exhibit was different from the others. The picture wasn't on the wall for one thing. It didn't look like a picture either. To her, the mural looked life-like. It consisted of layers of rippled glass with a picture if a fish with blank eyes staring back at her.  
The fish blinked.  
Amused, she continued to stare. She was disappointed, as the fish didn't blink again. Defeated, she started to move, looking at the other pictures which so captured her fascination.  
She liked Guertena. His works seemed quiet, like her.  
After she was done with the first floor, she went to find her mother.  
"Done already, Eve? There's another floor, so be sure to have a look!"  
She nodded.  
The second floor consisted more of sculptures. One that captured her eye was the "? Of Spirit". It looked like a fragile red rose, one which the petals would fall any moment.  
Eventually, she stumbled upon an interesting painting. "- World", it was called. She couldn't recognize the word. It was a magical painting, capturing movement with brushstrokes. It seemed to move around. She didn't know how long she'd been there, but by the time she came to her surroundings, the room was dark. Her heartbeat started to quicken. As she left the room, she noticed that no one was there. A quick trip downstairs assured her of that. She hurried back upstairs, thinking of returning to the room she was originally in.  
Knock knock knock!  
Startled, she ran towards the exit, stumbling and tripping as she went.  
By the time she reached the exit, she was covered in bruises. She tried the door, but it was to no avail. She looked out the window, but was met with pitch-black. It didn't seem like the gallery wanted her to leave.  
After finally calming down, she decided to investigate. The gallery was dark, but it was just light enough to see. It didn't seem like there was anyone there, though. The only sounds she heard after that were from the portrait of "The Cough". She didn't seem surprised either. Why wouldn't a portrait named "The Cough" cough? After investigating the gallery, she returned to her original spot. She then noticed blue paint on the wall, which seemed to have mysteriously appeared. The paint seemed to recognize her, too. As she moved to touch it, the paint moved to form words.  
"Come down here, Eve, I'll show you some place secret", the message read.  
The floor was immediately illuminated by red paint. Fascinated, she followed the instructions, and sure enough, found that she could go in to "? Of The Deep". She took a step towards it, but tripped and fell into the painting.

The little girl smiled excitedly. Her wish came true! Someone DID come! She rushed out the door.


	3. The Green Room

She opened her eyes and looked around. The place was strange. She didn't like it.  
Where she landed was in the middle of a hallway, with doors on either sides. She tried the door on the left first, but it was locked. With no other choice, she ventured down the right hall.  
She was met with a glow of red paint, illuminating the hall. At the end of the hall, she found a rose sitting in a vase. It looked very pretty. She reached out pick up the rose. The moment the rose touched her hand, she heard the sound of the door opening. She moved the table out of the way and proceeded through the door. She was met with a painting of a woman smiling warmly. In the very centre of the room was a key. She looked around, puzzled by the set up. It seemed that there was a block of text on the wall, but reading it didn't make much sense. Something about roses and her body. She picked up the key. Right away, the painting's smile turned into a demonic smirk. She became a bit disturbed. She left the room as quickly as possible. The glow from the paint outside was tinged a slight darker colour. "Thief", it read. She ran as quickly as possible. By the time she got to the other side of the hall, she was out of breath. She unlocked the door and entered the new room with haste. She was greeted by a green room. It was lit better than the previous hall. As she looked around her surroundings, she noticed pictures of many insects. She took a step forward to further examine the paintings, almost tripping to avoid the ant crawling on the floor. There was a painting of a spider, a grasshopper, and many other bugs. But the girl was puzzled. Why isn't there an ant painting here?

There was clearly an ant here too. She decided that she should go find the painting. She felt that the ant was left out.

"Why don't you have a painting here, Mr. Ant?"

"I have a painting its really cool"

The girl smiled at her little dialogue. The ant, not knowing what went on in the girl's head, crawled away.

The room was big. It seemed to be a crossroad between two hallways with a door on either end. The door was locked in the hall lined with the paintings, which is why the girl decided to go down the other hall. She jumped at the first step. There were hands, reaching out from both sides. Already scared, she ran from one end to another, panting heavily as she reached the end of the hall. Her entire body hurt. Her rose was dealt damage as well-with only one petal left. The girl's pace slowed as her body was wracked by the pain. Nevertheless, she found the ant painting. She found it could be removed from the wall. Knowing this, she took the painting, hoping to place it amongst the others. As she walked down the hall, the hands once again shot out of the wall. Once bitten, twice shy, one could say, as the little girl managed to avoid them with ease. She noticed another door down the hallway with the paintings. Forgetting all about the poor ant, she opened the door, her curiosity peeking once again. What she saw was a long hall with a gap in the middle. The gap was big enough that it was impossible for the girl to jump across, yet small enough that a small painting could fit snugly. The girl remembered that she was still clutching the painting of the ant in her hands. The painting was a perfect fit across the gap. She stepped across. As she crossed, she heard a faint "squish". Glancing down, she saw that the painting of the ant, originally a perfect healthy ant, had become bloodied, with its limbs splaying across the ground. The girl felt something awaken inside her. It wasn't sadness, or anything that could be described with a single word. That "something" was more of a multitude of emotions-a bit if sorrow, with some guilt and curiosity. It seemed the ant in the painting could be hurt as well. Puzzled, she continued on, reaching the door across the gap. The room was plain, with no decorations, save a headless mannequin in a red dress. The girl noticed something glimmered on the floor. Upon closer inspection, the object appeared to be a key. As she picked it up, the girl heard a sound. Yelping in surprise, she looked up, only to be once again shocked by what she saw. The mannequin, it seemed, was moving. She backed up. It moved forward. She backed up once more. Once again, the mannequin moved towards her. She ran, and it chased after her. Clutching the newly-found key, she ran out of the room, shutting the door. Once out of the room, the little girl gasped heavily for breath. However, it didn't seem like she was safe just yet. Not even a few seconds passed until she heard the ghastly "click" of the door opening. The mannequin seemed unrelenting of its prey. The girl ran across the hall, not once glancing at the bloodied painting of the ant. She safely crossed over. The mannequin, however, was not as fortunate as her. The painting of the ant was already nearing its end with thundering steps the girl took as she crossed. As the mannequin stepped on it, the painting collapsed. Needless to say, the mannequin fell silently into the eternal darkness of the gap it had created. Gasping for breath, she paused, safe. She walked down the corridors, past the hands, finally, to the locked room. With shaking hands, she unlocked the room, preparing herself for what's to come.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! I've been caught up in the dreadful vortex they call school for quite a while now, and it seems only now that I was able to escape it._

_...For now._

_I'll try my best to update the story consistently, now that I've got people depending on me. ^.^_

_-The Sun_


End file.
